ABC
and NBC led Wednesday night with the White House release of a study from the
left-wing group Families USA bolstering the Democratic effort to expand
Medicare to cover prescription drugs, but only NBC’s Lisa Myers referred to
the source of the numbers as "a liberal advocacy group." ABC just
cited how "the White House released a study today" and
"today’s survey shows." Unlike ABC’s John Martin, she also
provided viewers with an explanation for why drugs cost more in the U.S. than
in Canada.

Peter Jennings opened the
April 26 World News Tonight:
"We’re going to begin tonight with the cost of
prescription drugs and the growing realization that it’s going to be a very
significant issue in this year’s election campaigns. The White House
released a study today which says that the cost of 50 drugs most often used by
senior citizens is rising faster than inflation...."

John Martin began:
"This is America’s newest political battleground. Today’s survey
shows that of 39 drugs used by seniors, 22 rose at twice the rate of
inflation, six rose five times he rate of inflation."
After soundbites from Clinton and Senator Tom Daschle,
Martin noted how Democrats "reminded citizens drug prices are lower in
Canada." Viewers then saw Al Gore at a pharmacy acting shocked at the
price of one drug. Martin observed: "Republicans are so worried about
losing control of the House that they are easing their long-standing
opposition to government solutions."
Martin showed a clip of Speaker Dennis Hastert announcing
the GOP’s plan on April 12 as he went on to give an overview of what the two
parties have proposed and concluded it will take a bi-partisan effort to pass
a bill.

NBC Nightly News also
promoted the liberal group’s agenda, but at least acknowledged the
ideological tilt. Lisa Myers asserted:
"Confirmation today that you aren’t alone. The price
of nearly everyone’s prescription is going up. A new study finds the price
of fifty drugs most popular with seniors jumped, on average, almost four
percent last year, nearly twice the rate of inflation. Over the last six
years, prices soared more than thirty percent, again double inflation.
Democrats seize on the report by a liberal advocacy group as still more
evidence seniors urgently need help."
Bill Clinton: "More than three in five American
seniors today lack affordable and dependable prescription drug coverage.
Today’s report shows that the burden on these seniors is getting
worse."
Myers: "In fact, the report finds the prices of some
popular drugs are skyrocketing..."

Myers ran through some
examples of prices of specific drugs before turning to Tom Daschle: "You
almost have to take a nitroglycerine tablet just to read this report. Some of
the numbers are truly shocking."
Myers then provided time for another point of view, as
transcribed by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth: "A spokesman for drug companies
charges the study is politically motivated and exaggerates cost."
Alan Holmer, pharmaceutical trade group: "The price
increases by the manufacturers over the course of the past six years have been
relatively modest."
Myers: "Still, as prices go up, many seniors in border
states now go to Mexico or Canada to buy drugs made in America. One government
study finds the very same prescriptions cost an average of 43 percent less in
Canada than in this country...So why do people in other countries pay much
less than Americans for drugs?"
Holmer: "Because of price controls that exist in
Canada and Mexico."
Myers: "As a result, drug makers say Americans end up
paying most of the cost for research and development of new drugs."
Senator Slade Gorton: "These other countries are
getting a free ride on the backs of American citizens, on the backs of
American purchasers."
Myers: "Frustrated lawmakers in Maine are taking
matters into their own hands, passing legislation to require that drugs sold
in Maine cost no more than in Canada. The governor has not yet signed the
bill, but a state senator says politicians have to do something."
Myers concluded: "Tonight senior Republicans, clearly
feeling the political heat, predict Congress will at least help low income
seniors this year to ease, though not cure, the pain."

Political heat fueled by a
media excited about highlighting victims more government spending can save.

The
media have not had any independent verification of Elian’s well-being since
he was seized Saturday morning, but instead of demanding access the networks
simply pass along the spin delivered by his government captors.

On Wednesday, April 26, the
INS released the assessment for a psychiatrist and CBS’s Byron Pitts simply
relayed her analysis of how "peace and quiet...is what this family needs
most" and that Elian has "warm" feelings for his step mother.
Pushing the claim of an interested party, Pitts gave credibility to how INS
Commissioner Doris Meissner is sure "Elian was not traumatized during
Saturday’s raid."

A group of Cuban-American
psychologists and pediatricians denounced the government assessment and
demanded access to Elian, but Pitts ignored them. ABC’s Linda Douglass at
least mentioned their retort after relating how the government psychiatrist
"found that he treats his father with admiration and pride and likes to
cuddle with him," but she also dismissed Marisleysis’s mother role:
"The psychiatrist found that his feelings toward her seemed more like a
crush a small boy would have on a teacher."

From Havana, NBC’s Jim
Avila highlighted Fidel Castro’s complaint about not getting more visas and
in explaining what is keeping Elian in the U.S. gave credit to the Cuban
regime: "The Cubans say honor is involved, too."

-- CBS Evening News. Over
video from a helicopter looking down at Juan Miguel and Elian, Byron Pitts
began:
"With the media kept at a distance, Elian, his father,
step Mom and half brother spent their first full day in their new hideaway, a
simple pleasure made possible by a private citizen who volunteered to pay for
the Gonzalez’s stay at the spacious and secluded Carmichael farm along
Maryland’s eastern Shore. Peace and quiet, says the government psychiatrist
who interviewed Elian and his father together, is what this family needs
most."
Doris Meissner, INS Commissioner: "She found him to be
very playful, teasing, very warm toward both his father and his
stepmother."
Pitts: "INS Commissioner Doris Meissner was briefed by
the psychiatrist. According to Meissner, Elian was not traumatized during
Saturday’s raid, a raid that according to the INS agents on sight, was far
more dangerous and hostile than they’d ever imagined."

After a clip of Meissner
claiming her agents met resistance outside the house, Pitts noted how Miami
Cubans traveled to Washington, DC for a protest and showed Marisleysis
thanking them for "supporting the most precious thing I have which is
Elian." Pitts warned: "For now, the psychiatrist says, that reunion
should not take place. The one that will be is between Elian and his cousin
and a teacher from Cuba who traveled to the United States today."

-- ABC’s World News
Tonight. Linda Douglass reported how Juan Miguel Gonzalez has requested that
the court allow him to make decision’s in Elian’s asylum claim. His Greg
Craig-prepared brief took on Lazaro: "His treatment of Elian,
particularly during the final weeks, was shocking and abusive."

Noting how Elian and his
father are in seclusion at the Wye River Plantation compound, Douglass
announced: "Yesterday the boy was seen by a psychiatrist retained by the
government, who found that he treats his father with admiration and pride and
likes to cuddle with him. The psychiatrist reported that Elian calls his step
mother ‘momma’ and advised that he should not see his Miami relatives
right now because they are too angry. Psychologists and psychiatrists
representing the Miami relatives came to Capitol Hill to lash out at those
findings."
Dr. Jose Carro, pediatrician: "Every moment that Elian
remains forcibly separated from his adopted family in Miami represents further
emotional abuse."
Douglass concluded: "Juan Miguel Gonzalez’s lawyer
said today the Miami relatives have not actually called him to arrange a
meeting with Elian. As for Marisleysis Gonzalez’s claim that she is
Elian’s surrogate mother, the psychiatrist found that his feelings toward
her feel seemed more like a crush a small boy would have on a teacher or a
little girl."

-- NBC Nightly News skipped
the psychiatrist’s report in favor of passing along Castro’s concerns and
assurances. From Havana, as transcribed by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth, Jim
Avila trumpeted:
"New pictures released today of a smiling Elian
Gonzalez and his baby brother, til now his only playmate on the grounds of
Maryland’s Wye Plantation. But another friend now on the way, his
eleven-year-old cousin on route from Havana to Washington, with his Cuban
kindergarten teacher. The State Department has granted four more visas for
other Elian classmates, but late this afternoon, Fidel Castro complains
that’s not enough. He wants twelve Cuban first-graders, friends of Elian, in
the United States as long as the Gonzalez family has to stay."
Fidel Castro, through interpreter: "We thought there
were no obstacles for the twelve kids and the doctors and the rest of the team
to travel."
Avila: "The State Department says the other visas
requested by the Cubans are under review. In the U.S., lingering questions
about how the INS extracted Elian, can he go back to Cuba right away, and can
a six-year-old really apply for asylum? First, was the government’s late
night search warrant valid? Some scholars say it’s questionable to use a
criminal warrant in a civil matter where no crime has been committed, but the
Justice Department says the INS regularly raids homes to return undocumented
aliens, and a judge signed the order to remove Elian."

Following a long soundbite
from Steve Saltzburg of George Washington University Law School, Avila pumped
up Castro’s integrity: "Next, what keeps Elian from leaving the United
States now? Two reasons: The Atlanta federal court order demanding he stay
until the appeals process is over and paperwork Juan Miguel the father signed
before the INS turned him over. The Cubans say honor is involved, too."
Ricardo Alarcon, Cuban National Assembly President:
"We will not violate our, our, our commitment and ensure that Juan Miguel
has the same, the same attitude."
Avila: "And finally, can Elian, a six-year-old,
successfully claim asylum? The Miami family and their attorneys say yes, but
most immigration experts say there’s no way a young child can prove the
required well-founded fear of persecution for religious or political
beliefs."
Anthony D’Amato, Northwestern University Law School:
"He would have to show that if he went back he could be jailed, arrested,
tortured, etc."
Avila concluded by campaigning for Castro’s request for
more visas: "The bottom line, the Cubans say it all means Elian will be
in the United States until at least mid-May, and he needs more Cuban friends.
Some in the United States predict it could be even longer than that before he
returns to Cuba, but most agree the law in America says he must go home."

But
at least Elian will not be returning to a communist country, just a
"nationalistic one." So maintained Jim Avila in an appearance by
phone on Wednesday’s Imus in the Morning radio show simulcast by MSNBC. MRC
analyst Paul Smith caught Avila’s evaluation of Cuba in which Avila
seemingly contradicted himself by stressing how Elian comes from a family of
"true believers... true communists" while insisting Cuba is
"not primarily a communist country." Avila argued on the April 26
show:
"Everybody you talked to here who are true believers,
and all evidence is that Juan Miguel comes from a family, a father and a
mother, of true believers, true communists. What you hear from them is it
matters not what’s on the outside but what’s on the inside and there is,
the one thing that most that I’ve learned about Cubans in the many times
that I have visited here in the last few years, is that it is mostly a
nationalistic country, not primarily a communist country."

Avila explained how Juan
Miguel will return to resume his "fulfilling" life: "Juan
Miguel says he will come back and I believe he will come back because he is
Cuban. He believes you know that the life he lives in a small village eighty
miles outside of Havana is fulfilling life. He has, because he works with
dollars in a tourist area. He has enough to get along and he has a sense of
community there that, it is going to be hard to dissuade him. Somebody has
already offered him millions of dollars there in the United States. He has
turned it down. I don’t think that money in the culture that these folks
have grown up in is, means the same thing that it does to many Americans.
Remember there is that other baseball pitcher who’s here who turned down 50
million dollars to come play baseball, do something he loves and turned it
down in order to be the community hero here in Cuba."

Forget
about demanding access to Elian for the media or any non INS or Cuban
government operatives. Never mind denouncing the INS for keeping Elian
secluded from those who took care of him for five months. Wednesday morning
NBC’s Katie Couric praised INS Commissioner Doris Meissner for going to
"extraordinary lengths" to make sure Elian is
"comfortable."

Couric’s last question to
Meissner on the April 26 Today:
"And what about visits from his friends, his
classmates. I know that his kindergarten teacher, pediatrician and cousin are
flying from Havana today. But there have been discussions about, pardon me,
having four of his playmates come up as well. It seems to me you're going to
extraordinary lengths to make sure this little boy feels comfortable. Do you
fear that you might be going overboard here?"

Just how
"comfortable" did Meissner make him when one of her agents had an
automatic weapon inches from his head?

Geraldo
Rivera is thrilled by the seizure of Elian, MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens found
in watching his two CNBC shows from Tuesday night, his first broadcasts since
the event. Wednesday night he did actually bring aboard Alan Dershowitz, who
denounced Janet Reno’s legal reasoning. (See the April 26 CyberAlert for
Dershowitz’s take.)

Here are some of his
comments uttered on the April 25 Rivera Live on which both Senator Bob Smith
and fisherman Donato Darymple appeared as guests:
-- "The President isn’t the only who approves of
Janet Reno’s smash and grab operation this past weekend. If it had been my
kid the only difference is I would have led the charge. And what the hell was
the fisherman doing in that house at five in the morning?"
-- "But the resilient little boy had barely begun his
joyful family reunion when the potshots from pious politicians began flying.
In fact the Monday morning quarterbacking from Republican leaders started well
before Monday morning with House Majority Whip, Tom DeLay calling the
immigration agents who seized Elian, jack booted thugs."
-- "The debate has largely become partisan with
Republicans who invoked family values and the rule of law in their attempts to
impeach Bill Clinton now blasting the President for upholding both those
ideals. That, at least, in my constitutionally protected opinion."

"Reno's
Raid Was Based on a Tissue of Lies" declared the headline over an April
26 Wall Street Journal op-ed by former New Jersey Superior Court judge Andrew
P. Napolitano, the FNC legal analyst who took on Deputy Attorney General Eric
Holder live on the cable channel Saturday morning.

In his Journal piece
Napolitano, who teaches constitutional law at Seton Hall Law School, further
detailed the deceitful methods he believes Reno and the INS employed to
justify the raid and obtain a warrant. Here’s an excerpt:

....The agents who assaulted Lazaro Gonzalez's
house early Saturday morning did have a search warrant. But a review of the
affidavit on which the warrant was based shows that the raid was
constitutionally flawed, unlawful and repugnant to the language and spirit of
the then three-day-old decision of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that
ordered Ms. Reno to keep Elian in the U.S. and denied her request for an
injunction requiring Mr. Gonzalez to turn the boy over.

True to form, the administration lied to the
American people. The first effort to hide the truth was the application for a
search warrant. The Immigration and Naturalization Service didn't present it
to Judge Michael Moore, the federal district judge in Miami handling the case.
Rather, the INS waited until after 7 p.m. on Good Friday, when a federal duty
magistrate, not familiar with the case and notoriously pro-government in his
rulings, was available to hear warrant applications.

The affidavit presented to the magistrate was
signed by Special Agent Mary Rodriguez of the INS. Ms. Rodriguez told the
magistrate that Elian was being "concealed" at Lazaro's home, that
the boy was "unlawfully restrained" there, and that INS Deputy
Director of Investigations James T. Spearman Jr. had already ordered the
arrest of Elian because the boy was "an illegal alien." In response,
the magistrate issued a search warrant.

Thus the power that the government invoked to
invade the house was that conferred by Congress when contraband or evidence of
a crime is being hidden. That was hardly the case with Elian, who was often
present, for all the world to see, in Mr. Gonzalez's front yard....

What the affidavit omits is as revealing as
what it says. Ms. Reno justified her agents' use of tear gas, guns and
violence by claiming a fear of weapons in Lazaro's house. Ms. Rodriguez's
affidavit says nothing of the kind. Ms. Reno claims she seized the child for
his own best interests. There is no allegation in Ms. Rodriguez's affidavit of
mistreatment or likely harm to Elian by his Miami relatives. Ms. Rodriguez
also didn't tell the magistrate that Aaron Podhurst, a well-respected Miami
lawyer and a longtime friend of Ms. Reno, was feverishly mediating
negotiations between lawyers for the government, Elian's father and Lazaro
Gonzalez even as the affidavit was being filed....

Saturday
night at 8pm ET/PT, 7pm CT/MT ABC aired its Planet Earth 2000 special
featuring Leonardo DiCaprio’s interview with President Clinton which ABC
News President David Westin spent a week denying was really an interview.
Westin initially maintained: "We did not send him to interview the
President. No one is that stupid."

Westin also insisted in the
e-mail to upset staff that "all roles of journalists must be played by
journalists (duh!)," but DiCaprio had an even greater journalistic role
in the one-sided special than anticipated. He opened the show, introduced each
segment and then concluded the program with a call to action matching the
liberal agenda of the Earth Day 2000 celebration on Washington’s Mall which
he chaired.

On the bright side, the show
was little watched, but a New York Times story, brought to my attention by MRC
Communications Director Liz Swasey, reported ABC will soon foist the liberal
advocacy upon school kids. In an April 24 story, Jim Rutenberg related how ABC
News spokeswoman Su-Lin Nichols "said the program would have a broader
reach in May, when it would be distributed to 12,000 high schools and middle
schools." On Saturday night it drew 3.9 million viewers according to
Nielsen numbers in the April 26 USA Today, fewer than CBS’s Early Edition,
Fox’s Cops or NBC’s Pretender. For the week, it finished 92nd out of 93
shows on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, though well ahead of most UPN and WB shows.

And what did those who
watched see and what will school kids soon have to endure? An hour of advocacy
topped off with about two minutes of DiCaprio’s interview with Bill Clinton.
Rich Noyes, Director of the MRC’s Free Market Project, watched the whole
hour featuring anecdotal tales, told by ABC correspondents Chris Cuomo and
Elizabeth Vargas, about global warming’s impact on Alaska and coral reefs
and how cars are warming Atlanta. Noyes counted a grand total of 41 seconds
casting doubt on ABC’s dire scenarios. All 41 seconds came from two
soundbites from Patrick Michaels of the Cato Institute.

Now to the Clinton segment,
including what didn’t air. Bill Clinton told DiCaprio how "we started a
project here at the White House called the greening of the White House. Just
by changing the lighting in this whole building, we lowered our electric bills
by $100,000 a year." DiCaprio’s response: "Wow."

DiCaprio’s first question
as shown: "Mr. President, I want to thank you very much for your time,
and as you know, I'm neither a politician nor a journalist, but being given
the opportunity to sit down with you here and talk about an issue like global
warming, was an opportunity as a concerned citizen that I couldn't pass
up."

His second: "Why do you
think this issue is so constantly overlooked and why do you think people don't
take it seriously enough, and for you, is it as important as something like
health care or education?"

DiCaprio also inquired:
"What do you think the best course for American citizens is, within the
next 20 years, as far as helping the environment is concerned?" And
finally: "Do you think we can eventually become a role model?"

From there I gleaned these
two insightful questions ABC decided not to air:
-- "Many people have said in the past that the
American dream was to buy a car and live in the suburbs. But it has created
massive problems that have made us more reliant on our cars. Since it is so
difficult for us to convince people to use mass transportation, how can we
promote hybrid vehicles and convince people to give up their SUVs? For
instance, if it only costs $575 a car to make them cleaner, why can't you make
it a law, like seatbelts?"
-- "Now, Louisiana is the second largest consumer of
fossil fuels and the city most at risk for sea level rise. Can't something be
done like in Atlanta where the government withheld highway funds, making it
the model city for environmental responsibility?"

Yes, in his mind Louisiana
is a "city."

Planet Earth 2000 concluded
with this message from DiCaprio as butterflies flew around him while he sat in
the Butterfly Conservatory at the American Museum of Natural History:
"As the debate surrounding global warming continues
on, a recent study by government scientists suggests that the Earth's climate
is in fact warming at an unprecedented rate. But it may be decades before we
know the full impact of global warming. And by then, it may be too late for us
to do anything about it. Now, there's a concept in the scientific community
that goes something like this: Complex systems or large phenomena like El Nino
can be started by a fluctuation as gentle as the flapping wings of a
butterfly. It's a metaphor called the butterfly effect. Now, if we take that a
step further, that means that the slightest action could have a negative
effect on the planet or in turn, it might result in something positive. Simple
fact is there's nothing to lose if we take preventative measures right now to
save our planet, but there's a whole lot to lose if we don't."

Nothing to lose but freedom
from more government regulation.--
Brent Baker